Land Drainage Act 1991

[F1 61B Duties in relation to local authorities. E+W

(1) It shall be the duty of a local authority, of each of the Ministers and of the [F2 appropriate agency], in formulating or considering any proposals relating to any functions of a local authority under this Act—

(a) so far as may be consistent—

(i) with the purposes of this Act; and

(ii) in the case of the Secretary of State, with his duties under section 2 of the Water Industry Act 1991,

so to exercise any power conferred with respect to the proposals on the local authority, that Minister or, as the case may be, the [F2 appropriate agency] as to further the conservation and enhancement of natural beauty and the conservation of flora, fauna and geological or physiographical features of special interest;

(b) to have regard to the desirability of protecting and conserving buildings, sites and objects of archaeological, architectural or historic interest; and

(c) to take into account any effect which the proposals would have on the beauty or amenity of any rural or urban area or on any such flora, fauna, features, buildings, sites or objects.

(2) Subject to subsection (1) above, it shall be the duty of a local authority, of each of the Ministers and of the [F2 appropriate agency], in formulating or considering any proposals relating to any functions of a local authority under this Act—

(a) to have regard to the desirability of preserving for the public any freedom of access to areas of woodland, mountains, moor, heath, down, cliff or foreshore and other places of natural beauty;

(b) to have regard to the desirability of maintaining the availability to the public of any facility for visiting or inspecting any building, site or object of archaeological, architectural or historic interest; and

(c) to take into account any effect which the proposals would have on any such freedom of access or on the availability of any such facility.

(3) In this section “ building ” includes structure. ]

Textual Amendments

F1 Ss. 61A-61E inserted (21.09.1994) by 1994 c. 25, ss. 1, 3(2)

F2 Words in s. 61B substituted (1.4.2013) by The Natural Resources Body for Wales (Functions) Order 2013 (No. 755), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 329 (with Sch. 7)